Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Introduction
G. Rita Dudley-Grant, C. Peter Bankart, and
Kathleen H. Dockett
Buddhism, one of the world’s oldest religions, and psychology, one of the newest
humanistic sciences, are both dedicated to the rigorous pursuit of human understanding.
Both disciplines engage scholars whose primary goal is the pursuit of the
deepest possible knowledge of the human capacity for growth, self-knowledge,
and the transformation of human behavior and functioning. Buddhism shares with
psychology an almost infinite faith in the inherent possibilities within human
beings to transcend historical and immediate experience in order to fully actualize
human potential. Both disciplines are ultimately profoundly optimistic about
the universal human capacity to move beyond suffering, to live productive
and humane lives, and to establish communities where people can live in peaceful
cooperation. Moreover, psychology and Buddhism both espouse a rigorous
humanistic epistemology rooted in the ideal of empowerment through the exercise
of reason, intentional action, and learning about the human condition through a
scrupulous empiricism.
Over the last half-century most of the scholars who have explored the interface
between the two disciplines have focused primarily on the implications of
Buddhist teachings and psychological theories for the development and betterment
of individual lives. Psychologists from a broad range of theoretical perspectives
ranging from psychoanalysis and existentialism to radical behaviorism
have explored links between their practices and a wide range of Buddhism teachings
on meditation practices, prescriptions for ethical living, and intricate theories
of the self, to name just a few. In recent years numerous authors such as Bankart
(1997), Reynolds (1997) and Molino (1998) have encouraged interested students
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